1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a electrical connector, and more particularly to the electrical connector having posts to guide a carrier loading an electronic package mounted thereto to prevent contacts of the electrical connector from damaging.
2. Description of Related Art
Competition and market demands have continued the trends toward faster, higher performance electrical systems, particularly with regard to computer systems. Along with the development of surface mount technology in the design of printed circuit boards, higher density electrical circuits, including higher density interconnect components have been developed to meet the increasing demand for higher performance electrical systems.
As is well understood in the art, surface mountable packaging allows for the connection of the package to pads on the surface of the circuit board rather than by contacts or pins soldered in plated holes going through the circuit board. As used herein, the term “package” shall refer to a chip carrying module that is to be mounted to a circuit board. Surface mount technology allows for an increased component density on a circuit board, thereby saving space on the circuit board.
Area array socket connectors have evolved, along with surface mount technology, as one high density interconnect methodology. One significant application of this technology, for example, is the land grid array (LGA) socket connector that is used with an LGA package. One major advantage of the LGA package lies in its durability. The LGA package is not easily damaged during the installation or removal process or by handling generally. At least some of the other IC packages, such as a pin grid array (PGA) package, have a standardized layout, or form factor, for contact leads or pins on the package. These contact leads are somewhat fragile and can be damaged if not handled properly. By contrast, with an LGA package, there is nothing protruding from the package that can get bent or otherwise damaged during normal handling. The LGA typically could only have some foreign material come in contact with the land or contact area. The land, however, could be scratched if the package was subjected to abuse.
While the LGA package is quite durable, the LGA socket is somewhat less so. In at least some LGA sockets, when the socket is opened, the electrical contacts, referred to as contact beams, are exposed and the LGA package is loaded directly on top of the contact beams. The LGA socket is designed for loading and unloading of the package in a vertical direction, e.g. normal to the circuit board, which requires that a socket cover or load plate and any other actuation components have at least a ninety degree range of movement so that they can be clear of a load path for the package. This exposes the flexible surface mount contact beams, rendering the beams susceptible to damage during loading and unloading of the package. The beams may be broken, bent, or otherwise deformed which results in misalignment of the beams with respect to the package.
Thus, a need exists for an LGA socket that reduces the susceptibility of the LGA surface mount contacts to damage.